Denis Diderot

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A French writer and thinker of the 1700s who edited the Encyclopédie and helped spread new ideas about reason

proper noun

: Denis Diderot

The Encyclopédie, edited by Denis Diderot, became a cornerstone of modern knowledge.

Examples

Many philosophers of the eighteenth century, including Denis Diderot, championed reason and progress.
Many of Denis Diderot's ideas challenged traditional thinking.
Denis Diderot was instrumental in shaping the ideas of the French Enlightenment.
Denis Diderot was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment.
Denis Diderot was a leading voice in the French Enlightenment, advocating for intellectual freedom.
As the principal editor of the Encyclopédie, Denis Diderot significantly influenced the spread of Enlightenment ideas.
Denis Diderot wrote extensively on philosophy, making him a central figure of the Enlightenment era.

Synonyms

Diderot

vsDenis Diderot

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A French writer and thinker who edited the Encyclopédie

uses both given name and family name rather than the surname alone

Surface Forms

Denis Diderot main

Morphology

Denis + Diderot

This is a personal name referring to a specific historical individual; the referent (an 18th‑century French philosopher and Encyclopédie editor) is not derivable from the literal constituents 'Denis' and 'Diderot'. Proper names are arbitrary and non-compositional, so a B1 learner who only knows the parts would not infer the biographical meaning.

Etymology

Denis Diderot was an 18th-century French writer who collected and edited a huge book of knowledge called the 'Encyclopédie'. Because he brought together many thinkers and helped spread ideas about reason and progress, his name is linked to the 'Enlightenment' and to modern ideas about knowledge.